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☆ Microsoft will bring four Xbox games to other companies' consoles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Phil Spencer, CEO of gaming at Microsoft, speaks during the company's Xbox event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on June 10, 2018. Microsoft said on Thursday that it will release four of its video games on competing consoles. Microsoft completed the acquisition of prominent video game publisher Activision Blizzard for over $75 billion in October. Many Xbox fans expressed frustration on social media, speculating that Microsoft will give up trying to keep exclusive games on its console in the future. Earlier this week, The Verge reported that games such as Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment and Sea of Thieves would be coming to non-Microsoft consoles.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, Indiana Jones, We've Organizations: Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo, Indiana, Xbox, PlayStation, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media Locations: Los Angeles, Bethesda, Pentiment

Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals. It marks a career-defining moment for Spencer, who first joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and has helmed Xbox since 2014. When the companies announced a planned merger in January 2022, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made clear it would be "critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward” on its commitments to improve its workplace culture. As of late last year, Activision Blizzard had 13,000 employees, about 72% in North America, according to a regulatory filing. “It is a new day for workers at Activision Blizzard,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. in a statement Friday.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Spencer, “, ”, Gil Luria, Davidson, he’s, Bobby Kotick, who's, Kotick, Satya Nadella, Joe Biden's, ” Luria, George Jijiashvili, Elder, ” Jijiashvili, Claude Cummings Jr, ” Cummings Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Activision, PlayStation, Sony, U.S . Federal Trade, ZeniMax Media, Bethesda Softworks, Communications Workers of America Locations: Southern California, U.S, United Kingdom, San Francisco, Bethesda, North America, Canada

An Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare video game is inserted into the Microsoft's Xbox One video game console arranged in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Shares of Activision Blizzard surged Friday, after the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority narrowed the scope of its investigation into Microsoft 's takeover of the games publisher. The development marks a partial win for Microsoft, as it pursues an expansion of its video game business. Among its concerns, the regulator flagged that the deal would cause a substantial lessening of competition in the console gaming market. With this new evidence, the CMA now says it no longer believes the transaction will hamper competition in console games.

☆ Xbox CEO says Microsoft's layoffs were 'painful choices,' after tech giant announced 10,000 job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said Microsoft's layoffs were "painful" in an email to staff. Video game blog Kotaku obtained a copy of Spencer's email to staff working in Microsoft's gaming division. Kotaku obtained a copy of a company-wide email — through a current Xbox employee — sent by Spencer to all full-time staff in Microsoft's gaming division. "This is a challenging moment in our business, and this week's actions were painful choices," Spencer wrote in the email. The layoffs affected Microsoft's gaming studios including 343 Industries, Bethesda Game Studios, and its parent company ZeniMax Media, according to Bloomberg.

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